Lana Del Rey

probably time for triphop comebacks in general anyway.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kbUfDXrWgbs

"her singing is the weirdest thing about the album because at times she absolutely nails the character and the emotion but at other times it's just so weirdly tone-deaf. it's kind of like she's only got a handle on half of what she's trying to convey"

i don't know how many times people have posted a variation on "she really isn't ready for the big time yet" on here, but it's a lot. i think i've done it 20 or 30 times myself by now.

Man now I really want to listen to that first Mono album again.

As for Wu Lyf, what the fuck

yeah I kept thinking of lamb when I listened to the record. it's too bad they don't let baz luhrmann make movies anymore, think of the mileage he could get out of lana.

xp

xp yeah it's pretty rare to run into someone who is being marketed as a pop singer by a major label where you can call the competence of the singer and/or producers into question! but it's really the only explanation i can come up with for some of the stuff on the record

wu lyf explained

All the best bands walk off after a groundbreaking peroformance, take nirvana for example when they did territoriality pissings, they just all fucked off after, WORLD UNITE!

BommyBum13 2 weeks ago

hahahah ty for that historical perspective bommybum

the drummer likes lightning bolt, the guitarist is a godspeed you black emperor fan, the singer likes coldplay and arcade fire, and...okay, i don't even know what to think about that band.

Thread revived for everyone's enjoyment:

Wu Lyf

the singer seems like a legit strange person

i did not enjoy that band at all no

well i sort of did

he seems like a prat who would like to be thought of as a legit strange person but no he's just a prat

probably time for triphop comebacks in general anyway.

creep!

i could imagine creep ft. lana del rey very easily actually

i think the production is too much, actually - very little is as sparse as "video games", too often the songs are sort of slathered in unnecessary strings and get corny vaguely hip-hop beats and samples tacked on to them.

agreed

the wu lyf perf is similar to LDR's failures in that you can see them reaching for some weirdo indie guy grail but if coldplay is watered down radiohead then wu lyf is watered down coldplay and that is very weak tea indeed

I have "radio" stuck in my head today, that'll teach me to listen to a pop record

wu lyf reminds me of mumford and sons after a bender, when they get to the 'let's just sing drinking songs and bang on shit' part of the night

LOL @ "wu lyf" on letterman.

that mono video -- the 90s really were a while ago huh?

Off to the Races ... holy cow, really the worst ... just like, my jaw was dropping

― dmr, Tuesday, January 31, 2012 8:24 PM (Yesterday) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

fuck ya, horrifyingly bad. shocked that something so painfully wretched would be given the #2 slot on a "major" album.

oh man thank you for reminding me about Mono

xp yeah that one is a low point for sure

i think the production is too much, actually - very little is as sparse as "video games", too often the songs are sort of slathered in unnecessary strings and get corny vaguely hip-hop beats and samples tacked on to them.

― first period don't give a fuck, second period gon get cut (lex pretend), Wednesday, February 1, 2012 7:52 AM (4 hours ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lex otm. LDR would have been much better served by something sonically closer to the chris isaak/julie cruise/david lynch touchstones she obviously draws on. the best-sounding and least awkward tracks are those that emphasize space, darkness and restraint: "video games" and "million dollar man" in particular. not that the latter is a particularly great song, but the production at least seems suitable.

turns out it's not a terrible album, but nor is it a great one. seems to use a trite distillation of 90s trip hop to sort of split the difference between "modern radio pop" and the retro signifiers in which the singer seems inclined to couch herself. it's a bad move, imo, resulting in an album with no clear sonic identity or personality.

in addition to "blue jeans" and "video games", i kind of dig "national anthem", "radio" (which is just okay, really) and "this is what makes us girls". the rest goes by in a wash.

Yep, definitely a mistake to put Kid Cudi/Eminem's producer at the helm. Too bad Angelo Baadalamenti has been semi-retired for 8 years.

"Off to the Races" is sitting in my recycle bin.

spotted at tesco this morning:

http://f.cl.ly/items/2y1N1e013f02111V0A0J/10_97.jpg

£10.97!!!!!

Actually the deluxe version is 13.97, I know because I went to get it from there on Monday and had to ask someone to do a price check for me. I left empty handed and headed straight home to Amazon where the regular version cost me 8.20 from a seller.

Still really enjoying this album. Radio and Dark Paradise are my two favourite tracks at the moment.

No wonder Tesco are struggling.

Yeah, 69p for Popz Butter Popcorn is daylight robbery

Someone replaced the official round 'Security protected' stickers with bootleg square ones.

we participate in a civil debt recovery scheme

Yeah, this is nowhere near as awful as the narrative would have you believe, but still pretty mediocre taken as a whole.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Hr52zTBp3oo

Okay, yeah, the more I listen to this the more the clunky lyrics glare out at me. The awkward chorus of "Off to the Races" makes me think of Annie's "sexy" song in that glee club episode of Community.

Way good.

lol @ the ldr string quartet and dave trying to boost her self-esteem

that was MUCH better than snl though

yeah the talent is unambiguous there, it's just that the material is still kind of terrible

it still blows my mind that like 20 minutes before the LDR performance SNL ran the 'You Can Do Anything' sketch where entitled YouTube performers declared "I tried, and therefore noone should criticize me." it's like they knew what was going to happen.

http://cdni.condenast.co.uk/272x408/s_v/VogueMar12_V_31jan12_b_272x408.jpg

"fascinating"

why is her head taking the place of the letter G?

http://www.vogue.co.uk/blogs/the-culture-edit/2011/10/20/lana-del-rey-interview

VOgangstanancysinatraUE

per the vogue blog post i think you mean "Ghetto Monégasque"

she is good at coming up with these taglines for herself, cf "Hollywood sadcore"

"she" is good at coming up with the taglines "for herself"

haha again with the puppet business

Not the puppet thing, but come on, those taglines reek of PR people.

"I had no idea about the fashion shows," she told us. "But I think they chose Video Games because it embodies summertime sadness. Fashion is inspired by youth and nostalgia and draws inspiration from the best of the past. I think both the song and the collections touch on the light and the dark side of life."

she is definitely very shrewd about marketing herself, while at the same time not shrewd at all about how to not make it feel like marketing